


Dancing under the Scarlet Night

by Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas/pseuds/Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas
Summary: In order to relieve the stress from work, the office worker Velvet decides to attend dancing lessons. Little does she know just what sort of instructor awaits her.





	Dancing under the Scarlet Night

The stress from work was finally getting to Velvet. Being crammed into a small office day and night was stressful in and of itself, but due to a recent staff shortage, everyone working at the office was now also doing overtime on top of it all. To say that it was stressful would be an understatement, and Velvet knew she’d have to do something to relieve it.   
  
After browsing the internet for long enough, and chatting with the other ladies in the office; namely the accountant Eleanor and the painfully strict supervisor Teresa; Velvet was able to narrow her choices to a few. Exercising was most notably the one that resonated with her the most, but going to the gym didn’t exactly sound all that appealing. When it came to sports, she wasn’t all that keen on that idea either. The often competitive nature of it and the rather strict and set timetables would mean that simply attending them would be a nightmare, so that choice was quickly crossed off the list. The same process went on and on until she had but one choice left.   
  
“Dancing… I must say, that does sound a bit silly, but it could be fun…” Velvet mumbled out loud while tapping a paper with her pencil. After giving it enough thought, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and started to browse to see if there were any places close that’d peak her interest. She badly wanted relief from the work, but at the same time, she did have standards that were hard to meet sometimes. After managing to list her options, she was quick to start shortening her list.   
  
“Too expensive, too far, too… strange…” Velvet continued to delete the names from her list and soon enough, there were but a few to choose from. “Scarlet Night… hmm, at least the name is interesting. Sounds a bit like a drink,” Velvet said with a faint laugh. The website seemed professional enough, although the color scheme of pink, purple, and black was a bit unusual, yet at the same time somehow captivating.   
  
“Well the prices don’t seem that bad, and they have a money back guarantee, too. That’s always a good sign. Means that they believe in themselves… or they make it such a hassle to get your money back that no one even bothered to try it out,” Now that she had a name, she saved it on her address book and put her phone away. For now, she’d have to cram charts, but when it was time to leave, she’d be taking a different metro.   
  
*   
  
If the website had been flashy, it was nothing compared to the actual place itself. Velvet was still standing outside, but she could hear the music outside loud and clear. Not only that, beams of colorful lights were coming out as if the place was some sort of high school disco. Velvet already felt discouraged, but after making sure that the address she had saved was indeed this one, she hesitantly opened the door with a weary sigh.   
  
“Aaaaaaaaand stop!” Shouted the flashy dressed woman in the middle of the room. “It seems like we have someone new to grace us with their presence, so how about you all take a little break now and we’ll continue in a few?” As all the pairs went into their respective corners to get some water or just chat, the woman in the middle made her way to Velvet, swaying her hips in an almost comical fashion.   
  
“Well, I don’t think I’ve seen your pretty little face here before. A newcomer, I presume?” The woman asked with an almost sly smirk on her face.   
  
Hesitantly, Velvet nodded in response. “Yeah. So, are you the owner then?”   
  
With a quick pirouette, the woman nodded eagerly. “Oh yes, it is I,  Magigigika Mirdin Do Din Nolurun Dou!”   
  
Velvet raised an eyebrow in response, not saying a word at first. “Well, that sure is a handful. I hope there’s a short version of that, too.”   
  
“Oh yes, Magilou for short,” She replied with an ever growing smirk on her face. “But now the real mystery is, what do we call you, sweetie?” Magilou inquired, idly playing with Velvet’s tie.   
  
“Um, it’s Velvet. Velvet Crowe,” She coughed in response. For some reason though, while Velvet normally scoffed at the idea of letting people get close to her, let alone strangers, she didn’t actually mind Magilou’s rather strange behavior. She was dressed up almost more like a court jester than a dance instructor, but she couldn’t deny that this Magilou had a strange charm to herself.   
  
“Oh, well then welcome aboard Velvet. Why don’t you get changed and then we can get started? I’m gonna assume that you came here to dance on your first day and not just watch? You’re not going to sweat and get those hips of your dreams by just watching, you know~?”   
  
Velvet’s initial reaction was to scoff, but somehow she only ended up laughing instead. Shaking her head, she pulled back enough for Magilou’s gentle hold of her tie to break. “I’m not really here to lose weight, more than that I’m just… looking for something to get my mind off of work. I looked at some options and narrowed it down to this. Hopefully this isn’t going to be just slow jamming?”   
  
Pulling out a remote from her backpocket, Magilou turned on the speakers. The music spoke on her behalf, as the rhythm of it was both loud and hectic. “We’re going to dance our butts off here, so get changed and get ready. Everyone’s waiting~”   
  
Not wanting to keep everyone else waiting, Velvet made her way to the dressing room and quickly got out of her suit for something more casual and dancing friendly. The skirt was ditched in exchange of sweatpants, and the suit was replaced by a sleeveless black t-shirt that matched Velvet’s long and dark hair perfectly. Not wanting to let said hair get in her way, Velvet put her pride and joy into a ponytail. Checking herself out in the mirror, Velvet squinted her eyes to see if she had actually put on some weight thanks to all the extra hours she had spent working. “Well, I’d totally hit that,” Velvet smirked at her own reflection before taking her leave.   
  
*   
  
By the time Velvet had made her way back to the central area, pretty much everyone was already dancing. This time the beat of the music was fast and upbeat. It made Velvet tap the ground without her even initially realizing it. Before Velvet was even given a chance to ask what would happen next, the energetic organizer was already standing right beside her. Ignoring pretty much every etiquette of personal space, she closed in the narrow gap between them before grabbing a hold of Velvet’s hands; interlocking their fingers in the process.   
  
“H-Hey!” Velvet grunted with a faint, rosy color on her cheeks.   
  
A snicker escaped Magilou’s smirking lips as she took a few steps back, to which Velvet reacted by following her lead despite her initial resistance. “You came here to dance, didn’t you? And given how you’re the only newcomer this time around, I’ll be your partner in crime today. Maybe after today too if you play your cards right,” Magilou said with a playful little wink.   
  
Doing her best to ignore such comments, Velvet simply nodded in response. At least she didn’t have to dance with someone else who was just as clueless as she was, but at the same time, this put her lack of skills on a pedestal. “So, how does this… work exactly?” Velvet inquired after a brief moment of silence between them.   
  
The music in the background was nearing the chorus, so in preparation of that, Magilou tilted her head to both sides, gesturing for Velvet to pay attention to what other couples were doing. Their moves were hectic; wildly stepping from side to side while staying mostly close to one another. Velvet herself wasn’t sure if she was ready for something like that just yet, but she wasn’t really given a choice, as she felt the figurative carpet yanked out from under her feet as the notably shorter woman started to dictate their pace.   
  
Velvet couldn’t really read much about what type of woman Magilou was, but she could certainly testify that she knew what she was doing. Her moves seemed chaotic and uncoordinated at first, but the more Velvet swirled around with her, the more she could see just how passionate she was. When the chorus was hitting the high notes, she let her long hair loose, swirling it around to the beat of the rhythmic song. She even went as far as to sing along. The seemingly wild and untamed energy of it all was contagious, with pretty much everyone soon following her footsteps in their own way. Even the ones that were more often than not shy and stiff got into it and let themselves loose. The sight of it all made Velvet smile. She could tell from just looking at these people that most of them must have lived lives much like her own. Not wanting to be the odd one who didn’t seem to belong, Velvet too started to clap to the beat of the music during the brief moment when she wasn’t making sure that the bouncing and swinging dance instructor wouldn’t be falling down. Luckily for Velvet though, Magilou was light as a feather, so she could easily help her keep her balance with just one hand.   
  
When the music was coming to its climax, Velvet noticed some posters scattered all over the dancefloor. One pose that seemed to repeat quite often on those was one where one person would arch their back, while the other person supports them. It didn’t take even for someone as inexperienced as her to realize just how fitting that was for this music, and for someone who had a partner like Magilou, who seemingly didn’t know how to stand still when there was even a hint of music playing in the background. Determined to do her best and give Magilou a good first impression, she let go of Magilou’s right hand and quickly moved to support her back instead. Tilting her head quickly at the posters, she let Magilou know what was on her mind. It was a move that Magilou wasn’t all that keen on trying out with newcomers on their first initial sessions, but she felt confident when it came to Velvet. With a quick nod in response, she gave Velvet permission.   
  
The climax of the song was coming closer and closer with every beat, each louder than the one before it. For some reason, Velvet’s own heart was beating faster and faster as she glanced at Magilou. There was unspoken trust between them. The fact that she was willing to trust someone like her who didn’t know the first thing about dancing before this day made Velvet feel confident. Not only was Magilou’s energetic nature impossible to resist, but so was her smile. It had been a while since Velvet had smiled genuinely, but this was one such case. It was a feeling she had practically forgotten, but one she welcomed back with open arms.   
  
As the song came to it’s inevitable end, Velvet prepared herself. Watching around her, she saw how other pairs were positioning themselves. Before it was time to pull off the big move, she re-positioned her legs in order to properly support her partner. With a nod from Magilou, Velvet tightened her grip of Magilou’s back and hips, putting more weight on herself for Magilou to properly arch her back.   
  
And that was exactly what she did, in an almost comically over the top fashion. With one of her legs raised high up in the air, she let her weight be almost entirely on Velvet’s hands, with just her own toes to support her.   
  
Soon enough, the song came to its end. Magilou slowly let her leg come back down, and with Velvet’s help, she was quickly back on her feet. Wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead, she kept on eyeing the dark haired woman, who seemed to have quickly been able to get into the proper rhythm and mindset. “By my pastel colored panties, I don’t remember the last time I’ve had someone get so into it so quickly,” Magilou practically chirped, all the while staying close enough to Velvet to more or less feel her slightly ragged breath against her skin. “But that’s only a good thing. I don’t have to teach you all that much then. Or well, I suppose that is actually a bad thing, since we do need people here to keep this thing floating…”   
  
Before Magilou would get a chance to ramble on any further, she was silenced by Velvet’s index finger pressed up against her lips. Blinking, she lifted her head a bit to glance at the taller woman properly. “I want you to teach me. It seems like everyone else here already knows their basics, but I think I just… got lucky or something. Call it’s beginner’s luck or whatnot,” Velvet said with a faint smirk on her face.   
  
The next song seemed to be pretty much the exact opposite of the one that had come before it. Judging by how every couple around them seemed to get close and move very slowly, that seemed to indeed be the case. With the two of them still holding hands, both of them took a step forward until they were practically glued together. Their chests pressed up against one another, and their fingers returning to that now familiar interlocking position.   
  
“So… instructor,” Velvet coughed. Before she’d get to continue though, Magilou stood on her tiptoes and mimicked what Velvet did before by shushing her quickly and briefly with her index finger, before grabbing a hold of her hand once more.   
  
“Just call me Magilou. I don’t really like fancy titles all that much.”   
  
“Oh, okay. So Magilou… do you have any plans for the rest of the night?” she asked. Her voice was quiet enough for the music to cloud their conversation from others.   
  
“Can’t say I do really,” Magilou was quick to reply. Standing higher on her tiptoes, she leaned in closer to Velvet’s ear to continue: “What do you have in mind?”   
  
“I was thinking of maybe going out to eat. I’m not really the social type, but I feel like trying to come out of my comfort zone tonight.”   
  
“That’s my girl,” Magilou snickered. Not giving Velvet’s proposal too much thought, Magilou was quick to nod in response. “Yeah, I’d be down for that.”   
  
“That’s great,” Velvet said. The two of them danced to the beat of the music; swaying their hips and staying close as the music guided their feet. Eventually though, Velvet broke the silence with her question: “So… are your panties really pastel colored?”   
  
With an ever growing smirk practically shining on her face, Magilou pulled the taller woman lower to her level. “Play your cards right and you’ll find out.~”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for the Tales of Femslash 2018 event, which can be found here: http://talesfemslashweek.tumblr.com/
> 
> You can also find me at tumblr http://lordofspiritsandbazongas.tumblr.com/ If you have ideas, suggestions, feedback, comment, anything like that, feel free to contact me.


End file.
